The Essence of Time
by writergirl26
Summary: Set following the shooting at the end of season one, Maura realizes as she races to keep Jane alive that she is madly in love with the beautiful detective.She realizes that she may have waited too long to tell her and Jane very well may die before she can
1. Chapter 1

Rizzoli and Isles

The Essence of Time

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters created by Tess Gerritsen or the characters portrayed on the TNT Original series.

The explosion of the bullet leaving the chamber of its gun and piercing the flesh of Boston Homicide Detective, Jane Rizzoli as it shredded its way through her stomach and out her back sent Jane's best friend and Medical Examiner for the city, Dr. Maura Isles into a panic! Maura's heart sunk as she watched Jane fall to the ground.

"JANE NO!" she screamed, running to her best friends aide.

"We've got an officer down! I repeat OFFICER DOWN!" Vince Korsak screamed into his radio. "Dispatch medical to Police Headquarters NOW!" He and Frost went running across the street to try to help Maura while the rest of the Boston PD stood by solemnly and watched this heart-wrenching scene.

"Doc what can we do?" Frost asked in a panic as he looked down at his partner.

"Find the damn paramedics!" Maura responded, equally panicked.

"Weak and losing life fast, Jane opened her eyes, looking up at her colleagues. "I'm sorry," she gasped, looking directly at Maura.

Before Maura could say anything to Jane, Frost came back to them. "Paramedics are here. A group went down to get Frankie. The others are loading up supplies to try and stabilize Jane before they move her." Maura didn't say anything; she kept her focus intent on keeping Jane alive. She was really more in a state of shock rather than being focused; she was still trying to understand what Jane had just done.

"Come on doc," Maura felt Korsak gently pull her back as the paramedics worked hard to keep Jane alive.

"Don't' leave me," she murmured, slowly letting go of Jane's hand. Maura waited until the paramedics loaded Jane in the ambulance and then climbed into next to her.

"We'll meet you at the hospital," Korsak said. Maura smiled at Vince and Frost as the ambulance closed and took off for the hospital. She knew Frost and Korsak were just as worried as she was but they were much more capable of keeping it together.

"Don't you give up on me Jane Rizzoli!" Maura ordered her. "I need you Jane! Frankie, your parents, Korsak, Frost; we all need you so you have to be okay but most of all…" she trailed off, feeling tears betray her eyes. "I need you." Maura watched as they whisked Jane off and all Maura could concentrate on was the intimate realization that her feelings for Jane were deeper than she had ever imagined they could be. As she was now faced with the very real possibility of losing Jane, Maura Isles realized she was irrevocably in love with her best friend.

Still in a state of shock and covered head to toe in Jane's blood, Maura barely found the surgical waiting room and a chair before her legs gave out and the tears over took her. She had heard approaching footsteps as she lost her hold over her emotions but until she felt a soft touch on her shoulder she hadn't realized that Angela and Frank Rizzoli had joined her; Frost and Korsak were of course close behind them.

"Any word yet, Maura?" Angela asked, barely audible.

Maura glanced up at Jane's distraught mother. "No Mrs. Rizzoli, there hasn't been any word on Frankie or Jane," she answered sadly. Her hand was still shaking when Angela sat down beside her, taking her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"She will be okay Maura," Angela told the Doctor. "Janie has been a fighter since the day she was born; she won't leave us!" Maura felt bad that Jane's mother was comforting her when she was the one that had children in surgery, fighting for their lives.

"Mrs. Rizzoli, "I'm scared," Maura said simply. "There are so many things I have to say to Jane and now I may never get the chance."

Angela had no clue what Maura was truly getting at but she did know how close her daughter and the doctor were. "She'll be okay Maura. You will get to tell her everything!"


	2. Chapter 2

Rizzoli and Isles

The Essence of Time Part 2

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters mentioned in the story. They are property of Tess Gerritsen and TNT

Hours had gone by and Maura, Korsak, Frost, Mr. and Mrs. Rizzoli and cops from all over the city were filling the waiting room. Maura had barely spoken; all she could do was relive that horrible moment over and over in her head.

She was pulled out of her thoughts and memories by the sound of swinging surgical doors, causing her to instantly look up at a man covered in blood, clearly Jane's and/or Frankie's. "I assume that you are all here for the Rizzolis," the Doctors looked around at all the cops and then focused in on Angela, Frank and Maura.

"How are Frankie and my Janie?" Angela asked, frantic and scared. Maura couldn't meet the Doctor's eyes for fear of seeing the one thing she didn't want to see.

"Frank jr was lucky; whoever kept him alive in that morgue saved his life," he explained. Angela's eyes fell to a saddened Maura as if she were silently thanking the woman for everything she did to keep her baby boy alive. "Jane on the other hand has lost a great deal of blood. The bullet took out her spleen and nicked part of her left lung on its way out of her back so we had a lot of damage to repair."

Maura was a Doctor and a very scientific person; she needed numbers, she needed to know what they were faced with. "What are her chances?" Maura asked, knowing already what the doctor would likely say.

The Doctor looked down at Maura as if just noticing her for the first time. "Dr. Isles, hello," he greeted her with a warm smile. "To answer your question, Detective Rizzoli's condition could go either way at this point. If she makes it through the next forty-eight hours she will be doing much better."

"When can we see her Doctor?" Frank sr. asked, getting right to the point.

"Right now, I'll take you back but it's family only and one at a time," he answered. Angela's eyes fell back to Maura, who was still completely covered in Jane's blood; she was truly a complete mess.

"Doctor is there any way to get Dr. Isles a pair of scrubs to wear before she sees Jane?" The Doctor looked down at Maura and then back up at Angela Rizzoli. He knew that Maura wasn't really Jane's family but he saw a look in Angela's eyes that said don't press the issue.

"Certainly, Nurse Morgan will attend to Dr. Isles and then take her back to see Jane while I take the two of you to see your son," he replied.

Angela knelt down in front of the distraught Doctor and looked into Maura's sad eyes. "It is going to be okay Maura; don't give up on her!"

Maura smiled as she stood up to follow the nurse. "I won't Mrs. Rizzoli. I'll never give up on Jane!" Something in Maura's tone caused Angela to stop and stare at her for a minute. _Is it possible?_ Angela thought to herself. _Can my daughter really be in love with this woman?_ Angela had never considered the possibility that her daughter would fall for a woman but if she was right and Jane was in love with Maura, Angela couldn't think of a better choice for her baby girl.

An hour or so later Angela and Frank Sr. were still with Frankie so Maura took her chance to go and see Jane. The woman lying in the bed looked weak and defeated; her Jane was neither weak nor easily defeated." _Oh Jane,"_ she murmured softly. "What have you done to yourself?" She fought back tears as she stroked Jane's hand. "You can't leave me Jane; not like this; not with so many things left unsaid." Jane didn't move; she didn't so much as flinch which caused Maura to start crying.

She laid her head down on Jane's bed, still clutching her best friend's hand. She must have dozed off because she almost didn't feel Jane's touch when the Detective opened her eyes. "Maura," the Detective rasped, her voice horse, placing her hand on top of Maura's head, all Jane could do was smile.

Maura sat up, groggy and red faced from all the crying she had done. When she realized the touch had come from Jane, she smiled. "Hey you, it's about time you came back to us."

"How are you Doc?" she asked, trying to sound like her normal self.

"Don't you worry about me Jane Rizzoli; you worry about getting yourself better and never doing something so stupid ever again!" Maura demanded.

Jane smiled. "Maura, I'm okay," she said, giving the Doctors hand a gentle squeeze. "I'm okay so please don't worry." Jane was surprised to see such a display of emotions from her best friend when it was so rare that she let anyone in.

"I'm not so much worried as I am scared! Jane, I can't lose you!" Jane looked into Maura's eyes, seeing the fear she was speaking of. She brushed the woman's red hair from her face.

"Don't be scared Maura; I won't leave you," Jane assured her, touched by the Doctor's obvious concern for her


	3. Chapter 3

Rizzoli and Isles

The Essence of Time

Part Three

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, Tess Gerritsen and TNT do.

Jane Rizzoli didn't care that she had gotten shot; she didn't even care that she had come damn near dying. She cared that Maura had seen her get shot; she cared that in her desperate attempt to keep her kid brother, Frankie alive and keep Maura safe she had scared the life out of Maura. Her intentions had been good but the execution of her plan was horrible.

Her mother and all the nurses had told her how Maura hadn't left the hospital and barely left her side since the surgery. She felt bad that she had hurt Maura so badly. She smiled softly as she opened her eyes and saw Maura curled up in the chair beside her, sleeping soundly. "Maura, wake up hon." She reached down and touched her head. "Wake up Maura."

In that instant, Jane felt like things were different with Maura; her heart ached, seeing the red head in such disarray. Maura looked up instantly becoming worried. "Jane? Are you okay?" Maura stood instantly and took her hand. With everything that happened, Maura wasn't so much worried with hiding her feelings anymore; she didn't care who figured out that she was in love with Jane in a bad way.

Jane wasn't used to being fussed over so much but she figured that after what she put Maura through, the least she could do was let her fuss. "Maura, calm down I'm okay." She took the doctors hand. "You should go home and get some rest Doc; I'm going to be okay but I need you to be okay too! When I come back to work I'm going to need my other half there with me!"

Maura smiled at her, loving that she called her, 'her other half.' She also noticed that within just a few hours Jane had regained some of her natural, vibrant color. "Jane you can attempt to get rid of me all you want but I am not leaving you."

Jane laughed at the woman's persistence. "I love you Maura," she blurted out before she could stop herself. Jane's eyes went wide with fear; she and Maura had never used the term _I love you_ in reference to each other so she knew she had probably just shocked the hell out of her best friend. Jane hoped that she hadn't shocked her so badly that she would run away.

Maura looked at her for a moment, her face expressionless. She was surprised to hear Jane using that three letter phrase first; she had imagined that she would be the one to profess her love before Jane ever did. "I love you too Jane!" She beamed with excitement. "I have waited so long to tell you that."

"Well why didn't you just tell me how you felt Maura?" Jane was in complete shock that they had both just admitted a huge secret.

"It wasn't that easy Jane; I was scared to death to tell you! I was scared that if you didn't feel the same way that I would lose you and I couldn't take that risk but when you got shot I knew that I couldn't take the chance of never telling you either."

Jane's smile only got brighter. She liked that Maura had been so worried of losing her, it meant what they had and what they could have was really perfect. "Maura, nothing will ever take me away from you! I am yours now Maura." She reached her hand out for the Doctor and Maura gave it to her willingly. "I love you Maura and now that I know you love me too, all we have is time!"

Maura smiled at her, caressing her cheek softly; she loved that Jane was seemingly so excited about their developing relationship. When Jane pulled her up on the bed, Maura cringed afraid of hurting the Detective more. It was the essence of time that Maura had worried about to begin with; too much time wasted, not enough time to be honest with Jane but now Jane was here and as she fused their lips together as one, all Maura could think was that her dream had come true.


End file.
